Wingless Chickens, Bayou Catholics, and Pilgrim Wayfarers: Constructions of Audience and Tone in O’Connor, Gautreaux, and Percy

Nisly (English, U. of Delaware) dissects the implications of place, time, and religious climate as well as the role of the reader in the work of three 20th century southern Catholic writers. He reaches into both the histories and the texts of these authors to illustrate how the differing styles of Flannery O'Connor, Walker Percy, and Tim Gautreaux may be traced to their particular, varied, experiences of Catholicism in the American South. Nisley is especially interested in the role of the Second Vatican Council in Catholic culture, and its effect on the writer's relationship with their perceived audience. Annotation 穢2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)